Buried in sands of searing bluster

  There sits a beauty now torn asunder

  Its bricks are glass and forlorn luster

  A gloried past now withered wonder

  A Faded pyre of lost empire

  Tides of fire hide the once great spire

  All brought low in the face of my rancor

  In the wake of I, the First Worldshaker

  -

  Poem on Vet Var’Ral and the Grand Ruins, author unknown

  This poem was etched on a steel tablet in the Imanoa ruins. Dating suggests it was recorded during or shortly after the conclusion of the mysterious event known as the Star Burst Rebellion.

  Little is known about the Worldshakers, only that they have the power to threaten even the Diamond Monarchs. This poem suggests that there was a first, which seems to mean that there was a time before the Worldshakers. What are they? What do they want? And just where did they come from? Are they monsters, or something more?

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  These questions persist in my mind.

  - From the notes of Ahzra Zholii

  *

  HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT I’VE SEEN?

  …

  THEY’VE BEEN SET UP TO FAIL

  I don’t care, the boy thought.

  DEFIANCE IS WHAT LED US HERE

  IT WON’T SAVE US NOW

  YOU CAN SAVE US

  WITH HELP

  It’s not my problem.

  SEEK WHAT WAS LOST IN THE AGES PAST

  DEFY THE DIAMOND MONARCHS

  RETURN TO THE EARTH

  TWENTY YEARS

  Listen to me, damn it.

  OPEN THE GATE THAT WAS SEALED

  WALK THE FORBIDDEN PATH

  FOR THEY ARE COMING

  TWENTY YEARS

  RETURN